Gov Chris Christie and Hoboken Mayor Dawn Zimmer visits Red Cross workers at a relief center set up at the Elks Club during a tour Hoboken in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. Zimmer and the administration are now at odds over how certain aid is being allocated.
(Star-Ledger file photo)

HOBOKEN — Amid reports that the Christie administration may owe Hoboken $700,000 in Hurricane Sandy aid, state officials have changed how they are defending relief fund allocation, Mayor Dawn Zimmer said. Officials originally said that Hoboken was awarded its fair share, now they are trying to backpedal in face of criticism, Zimmer said.

Gov. Chris Christie's administration on Wednesday railed a WNYC and NJ Spotlight report alleging that Hoboken was shortchanged $700,000. According to the report, the state hadn't used the same criteria for Hoboken as for other cities when it determined how much the city would receive from the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program Energy Allocation Initiative. Larry Ragonese, a spokesman for the state Department of Environmental Protection, said that the report relied on incomplete data, since the final grant awards had yet to be finalized.

But Zimmer told NJ.com that officials are being hypocritical now that a third-party has stepped in to investigate and criticize the funding process. The Christie administration has asserted that Hoboken hasn't lost out on Sandy funding and pointed out that Zimmer's request for $100 million in Hazard Mitigation funding was too ambitious.

The Oct. 9 letter announcing that Hoboken would receive $142,080 for one backup generator — instead of the 12 Zimmer requested— also presented the award as the city's fair cut of the $25 million grant program, Zimmer said. Now, faced with WNYC's analysis of this data, state officials are asserting that criticism is premature, she said.

"Their own process is not withstanding light being shed on it," she said. "There's some serious inconsistencies there."

"I'm not going to get into a public debate with the mayor of Hoboken," he said.

He added that the state doesn't anticipate reducing any municipalities' allocations, and that some places may receive more funding, but he wouldn't comment further. Money from the hazard mitigation program has not yet been distributed, and Ragonese said final figures would likely be released in April.

The alleged funding discrepancies are the latest look at money at the center of Zimmer's retaliation allegations. In January, Zimmer accused the Christie administration of withholding aid when she wouldn't support the Rockefeller Group's proposed development project in the northern section of the city.

The city had requested $1.7 million for 12 backup generators but was awarded $142,080 from the grant program. If evaluated correctly by the city's standards, Hoboken should have received funding for seven generators, according to WNYC.